CHURCH GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES

 

The years have seen changing patterns of Church groups and activities, which mirror the changes taking place amongst us and our community. Perhaps the meeting in 1969 in Levin's Memorial Hall, chaired by Noel Whitehouse between such unlikely disciples as Canon Joblin (Anglican), Conrad Bollinger, avowed atheist, and Rev. Fr. Ashby (Catholic Church), was a forerunner of the ecumenical changes which we see in our Catholic society today reflected in the changes in Church activities and organisations.

 

Some of the organisations in the Parish have stood the test of time, others have outlived the reason for which they were instituted and have faded away.

 

Children of Mary Society

 

From approximately 1935 this was a popular society for young single women who joined in their early teens. They were a common sight at mass on one Sunday of every month in their light blue cloaks (white for postulants), and there are memories of the ceremony of removing their cloak in front of the statue of Our Lady on the day they were married. The bride would have a Child of Mary cloak placed on her shoulders by the President before entering the Church on the arm of her father. Then a special blessing was followed before she was "de"cloaked.

 

The society went into recess about 1961.

 

Legion of Mary

 

Rev. Fr. Lynch began the Legion in Levin in 1936. The group met initially at Miss Fitzgibbon's house in Salisbury Street and were active in visiting and helping the bereaved. It went into recess in the late seventies, at which time the meetings were being held at Mrs Keegan's home.

Catholic Women's League

 

The Levin Branch joined the National body in mid 1955. Their motto is "Faith and Service". The first President was Mrs Louise Lambie, and over the years the League has been active in the Parish - raising money for the Missions as well as being a spiritual and physical presence in the Parish assisting the bereaved, the sick and the needy.

 

Homemakers Circle

 

A homemakers circle was formed about 1958 to cater for the younger mothers of the League. Their main aim was to offer help, friendship and encouragement to each other and to new mothers in the parish. Sadly that circle went into recess some years ago.

 

Opportunity Shop

 

The local opportunity shop was the brainchild of the Catholic Women's League. Marie Vaney (Chairperson) and Pauline Boyle (Secretary) invited all the major churches to the first meeting on 1st October 1974. Four churches decided to go ahead and donated $30 towards the initial rent. The shop opened 5th November 1974, and the takings on the first day were $186. The profit for St Josephs averages $1000 per year. Another bonus has been the spirit in which all the churches have worked together - ecumenism in action.

 

Meals on Wheels

 

The Palmerston North Hospital Board initiated the meals on wheels service on 3rd November 1962. By 1989 thirty-seven organisations provided driving services. Between January and November 1989, 15,637 meals were delivered.

 

The Society of St Vincent de Paul

 

The Levin branch was formed in 1910. The first President was Mr R. McDonald but the group went into recess in 1916, probably due to the disruptions of the First World War. It re-formed in 1926, went into recess again in 1933, and restarted in 1959. Originally there were separate men and women's groups, but by 1969 they were combined in one group. A tireless worker in that first decade was Mrs Olive Foote.

 

The works of the Society were varied. Their work was visiting the sick and the bereaved, delivering food, even becoming entertainers giving small concerts in the War Veterans Home. In 1979 the Society sponsored a large refugee Cambodian family - the Parish providing the house and money - the Society the day-to-day help.

 

Since 1958 the following people have been President:

Mrs O. Foote, Mrs S. Day, Messrs J. Jeffries, J. Casey, A. Lynch, J. Cameron, P. Curran, K. Vaney, C. Foster, D. Connolly, P. Drumm, Anne Hayward. The Society still carries out its work in the parish and community, as efficiently and unobtrusively as ever.

 

The Holy Name Society

 

The Society is thought to have begun in the parish in 1948, but faded into recession about 1972. It was comprised of Catholic men and was formed to promote respect for, and devotion to, the Holy Name of Jesus at a time when the world seemed to be forgetting Him entirely. It also gave a sense of fellowship to men with a common ideal, which was an excellent idea in the post war period.

 

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

 

Following a directive from Cardinal Tom Williams in 1993, discussions took place between Fr Des. Moosman, Sister Mary Dunne and Marie Vaney regarding the commencement of the R.C.I.A. After perusing many books on the subject (most of which were American and therefore not entirely suitable) they subsequently decided upon the book "I Know You Are Near" with which to run the programme. Father Alan Roberts wrote this with much help and encouragement from Father David Orange, while both were co-pastors in Wainuiomata Parish.

 

Father Roberts later became our Parish Priest and published a revised edition in 1991. Mike Walker of Morrow Productions supplied all the photographs and most of the "stars" in these photographs were parishioners of St Josephs Levin.

 

A team was established in late 1983 and early 1984 and the first programme commenced (with great guidance and inspiration from the Holy Spirit) in June/July 1984, culminating in the reception of eight candidates at Easter 1985. The programme has been run each year until 1994. It went into recess in 1995 because there were no candidates. It was recommenced in 1996 but unfortunately has not been held since then in spite of great efforts having been made to find parishioners prepared to run the programme. During the years it has run, over forty people have been received into our parish community.

 

The involvement of the team running the programme each year (approximately 20 people in 1984) by way of time, talent and energy is massive involving attendance at two meetings a week over a ten month period each year. However most people so involved have found it a very rewarding and faith fulfilling experience.

 

C.C.D. 1960 - 1970

 

The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine was developed as a means of bringing Catholic teaching to the Catholic children who, for some reason or other (distance, family etc.) were being educated in State Schools.

 

In Levin the classes were held in the evening at the Convent school and comprised pupils from surrounding schools at primary and secondary levels. Pupil numbers reached 350 (Convent roll 210). It was a huge commitment for the parish, not only for the volunteer teachers but also the back-up resources, i.e. helpers to prepare the programmes, and the large numbers of car drivers who ferried children from home (often many Kms away) to the Convent school and home again. The commitment of these parishioners was impressive and it showed the great need for education of these young people. In a way it was the last big effort by the church to hold the young people to the faith.

 

In the seventies, the lack of resources and support, and the logistic problems that arose, became too great for the effort to be sustained, and the whole organisation was closed down. The modern day equivalent is the Children's Liturgy, carried on by a dedicated few during the 9am Mass on Sundays.

 

Parish Council

 

The first Parish Council was formed in 1967. The first Chairman was Mr B. Cullinane. Over the years the organization has had a chequered career with name changes such as Pastoral Team, Parish Leadership Team and back to Parish Council.

 

Youth Club

 

Fr. Kelly, an Irish boxing champion, who just missed selection for the 1959 Lions rugby tour of New Zealand, started the Youth Club. In 1960 - 61 the Youth Club was based in the old Regent Theatre building. Its aim was to keep youths off the streets.

 

A volunteer network of parents and well wishers provided an indoor basketball court, table tennis tables, pool tables and a jukebox. The club remained active for four to six years before waning. It was temporarily revitalized for a few years, in the Parish hall by Rev. Father Orange.

Liturgy Group

 

This was formed around 1980 but did not become fully functional until 1982 under Sister John Bosco and an original committee of Mrs Jocelyn Whitehouse, Mrs Beverly Foubister, and Messrs Raff Sannazarro and Ted Griffin. The Second Rite of Reconciliation was introduced, banners and visual aids were used, and lay people were involved in writing the prayers of the Faithful and choosing hymns which were appropriate to the Sunday readings. Other new ventures were the carol service and readings before Midnight Mass.

 

The ministry of Eucharistic Ministers was introduced into the parish in 1977. The first to be commissioned was Mrs Anne Stevens and by 2004 there were 36 Eucharistic Ministers (including those who take the Eucharist to the sick and housebound).

 

In 1993 Fr Alan Roberts appointed Nan Hurdle as the first Liturgy Coordinator to the parish.

 

From about 1995 a Thanksgiving Mass has been celebrated annually to thank God for all those involved in any parish ministry duties. A year later an annual Memorial Mass was introduced for relatives and friends of deceased parishioners.

 

About 1996 Noreen Malone first convened a religious articles stall stocked from Pleroma Supplies.

 

A time and talent survey is now run every 2 years, for parishioners to indicate areas where they would like to be involved within the parish. Trish Williams convened the first prayer link in 2000. By 2001 an Anointing Mass was firmly established on a quarter year basis.

 

In 2002 a book for prayer was placed in the side chapel. This book invites written prayer requests from and for those visiting the chapel.

 

Passionist Family Groups

 

Greg and Ann Murphy from Otaki consulted with the Parish Council and Fr Bruce England, and asked John and Anne Hayward to co-ordinate the groups in Levin. They started in March 1997 and consisted of five groups of approximately thirty-five people per group. The total is now about two hundred.

 

Marriage Encounter

 

This was started by Ted and Lola Hoult and was run from the Convent of the Good Shepherd at Te Horo in 1981. It was then run from the Cenacle in Palmerston North. It enabled married couples to spend time together in a neutral environment with expert support to review their married lives and commit them to the future. Weekends involving engaged couples were also a feature of this group.

 

Social Justice Committee

 

This was formed in 1992 at the behest of Fr Alan Roberts, in response to the express wish of Cardinal T. Williams that parishes within the Archdiocese should consider the need for such a group. Basically every member of our church is challenged to address the injustices in society, in our nation and in the world.

 

The Social Justice Committee, led by John Scott of our parish, was asked to assist in providing community service work opportunities for people sentenced from the local District Court. This led to an invitation to set up a group focussing on the problems of family violence. The Horowhenua Family Violence Intervention programme now functions as a stand-alone organisation in Horowhenua. It meets the needs of any person in Otaki, Shannon, Feilding and Levin, who is referred from the Police, Solicitors in the Family Court, or for self-referrals. Some Parishioners are involved in administering the programme, but it is truly a community programme. The Social Justice Committee records its delight that the programme has developed so well.

 

As a committee we have had generous backing from parishioners whenever a need is exposed. Each week, over many years there is regular support of the local food bank. Whenever major world disasters occur, our parishioners dig deep. Rwanda and Zaire come quickly to mind as well as the Lenten Appeals, Bishops Christmas Appeal and other special occasions. Parishioners donated three thousand dollars over a four-week period so that we might give practical assistance to three homeless families, to help them own their own home.

 

We are challenged to read the signs of the times, to consider what needs to be done, how it can be done and get on and do it.

 

Music in the Parish

 

As in many Catholic parishes around the world music has always been part of our way of worshipping and paying tribute. For us locally it has also been in many forms, from the Great Missa Cantata to the Samoan Mass. Who of our age will forget those beautiful masses by the great composers, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, to St Cecilia, St John and many others, all prior to the change when Gregorian Chant became the common mode.

 

Then came the break up of the parish choirs for the purpose of encouraging the entire congregation to sing during Mass, and later the formation of the new type choirs where the guitar and the piano came into use. This meant the congregation could sing together and has always done so.

 

I remember how we could all sing in Latin, 0 Salutaris Hostia, Tantum Ergo and the Adoremus at Benediction, and also chant in reply to the priest's intonations. We sang with great gusto - Faith of Our Fathers, Hail Glorious Saint Patrick, Soul of My Saviour, and many others. Outside of our religious ceremonials, music was always part of our parish life whether at school concerts in the hall on St Patrick's Day, or in the old Grand Hotel with green drapes, where we drank green beer, and ate green bread. And those two great singers Jimmy and Eileen O'Neill led and encouraged us to join in. The Sisters of St Joseph were always very much part of our music development. Sisters Celine, Cyprian, Julian and others taught our piano players.

 

Going back to the origins of the Parish in Poroutawhao, then part of the Palmerston North parish, very little is known of what place music had in their liturgy. When the Marists from Otaki took over in 1904 it would be difficult not to presume some framework for providing a choral background in the newly built church of St Andrew in Mako Mako Road. We can recall the name of the organist Ellen Gimblett with those who were part of the earlier choir. Eileen Bradley (organist through the 1940's), Jude Ryder, Gwen Hesp, and a very young Noelene Cardno were among other singers of note.

 

Coming into the picture in the early fifties we find the names of John Nees and Keith Jackson. They were still involved when the new church was built in Weraroa Road and the old organ was brought from Mako Mako Road. A flurry of fund raising saw a new organ purchased at a good discount from Joe Barnao and installed in the choir loft. Many will remember the dynamism of Mons Heavey in those fundraising efforts.

 

By 1959 Keith and John had moved on and the choir was in the very capable hands of Joan Whelan with Donna McClellan as our organist. It was the days of the revival of the Gregorian chant. To be part of a choir that could pay tribute well was very satisfying, through the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Pater Noster, Agnus Dei, under the firm control of our choir mistress who was schooled in her craft at St Mary's College. Then there were the responses with individuals like George Lomas singing the Propers at the appropriate places; those wonderful solos. The Panis Angelicus sung by a member of the choir or an invitee like Helen Ryder. It was really put into perspective when Mons Heavey was the celebrant who could intone in a voice that was made for this very purpose.

 

Other organists who followed during the period were Kay Griffin and George Hannah. The choir itself contained some old parish names but it was well balanced between the more mature and the young. They included Jude Ryder, Noelene Cardno, Mabel Owen, George Lomas, John Ellery, John Casey and others at various times. Among our younger members were Eileen Hesp, Alison Nees, Anne Jeffries and Janet Mortiboy.

 

After Joan left the choir continued under George Hannah and others until it became fashionable for the congregation to sing the Mass. We well remember Father Lorrigan striding up and down the aisle exhorting us to sing.

 

The Logan family, who were very musically talented, played often, and a young group of teenagers played their guitars. Because this style of music was such a departure from the ‘old’ ideas, it took time to become accepted.

 

When the vigil Mass was started, there was very little music at the time, and Father O’Sullivan appealed for someone to play the organ at 6.30pm Mass on a Saturday evening. Pam Maher took on playing for this Mass, and went on, along with Kay Griffin, to play the organ for the next eleven years. Kay played for much longer after Pam left the Parish temporarily.

 

The coming of Sister John Bosco saw changes in the music. Many new hymns were learned and in accordance with Vatican ll were more appropriate for the feasts and readings of the Mass.

 

Sister encouraged both Pam and Kay to take lessons from Bill Gordon at the Anglican Church, and both organists benefited from his teaching. Kay played for an interdenominational service in the Anglican Church attended by Father Moosman and Monsignor Durham, as well as ministers from all the other churches.  This was one of the first big interdenominational services to be held in Levin.

 

Some people wanted to have Mass without music, so Father Moosman put a vote to the congregation, and it was decided that the 8am Sunday Mass would be a "quiet" Mass. But when Father Michael McCabe came, singing was brought back to all masses, with the introduction of many new hymns and the acceptance of a new style of liturgy.

 

A new organ was purchased which both Kay and Pam found a joy to play.

 

Sister Mary Dunn, from Australia, took over from Sister John Bosco, and encouraged music groups led by Linda and Adrian Praat with guitars. An overhead projector did away with the necessity of hymnbooks. This made a vast improvement to the singing as heads were raised instead of being down looking at books.

 

The Knights of the Southern Cross

 

The objects of the Order are:

 

• To be an organised body of Catholic men giving entire loyalty to the Apostolic See, to the Hierarchy and to the Clergy in all things appertaining to the Catholic Faith.

• To support members in their vocation and mission, as catholic men.

• To work for the spiritual intellectual and material welfare of members and their families.

• To spread the Gospel for the conversion of souls and the growth of the Church.

• To restore all things in Christ by working for the moral and social welfare of the country.

• To help Catholic Youth develop to "be fully mature in the fullness of Christ Himself" (Eph. 4:13).

• To co-operate with other organisations in furtherance of the objects.

• To achieve all these objects through Charity, Unity and Fraternity.

 

Those who did belong were sought by members of the Order because they were in positions where they could help carry out the intentions of the Order. Grouping of branches in each diocese was based on parishes in a local area with an appointed chaplain, usually the Parish Priest, under the authority of the Bishop.

 

Originally Levin was part of the Wellington branch. When Levin became a branch in its own right cannot be firmly established because a motion was passed at a committee meeting of the Order, which at that time was very secret, ordering the minutes to be destroyed.

 

The Knights endeavour to support the Catholic School and Parish, especially through fundraising and other good works. The Knights organised a School Gala in 2003, and assisted the School with the 2004 Gala. The Knights also organised a combined parish bazaar and art exhibition in the Durham St hall in July 2004, to raise funds for the parish.

 

It was evident that, with the growth of the district, the Parish Priest needed a group of professional and practical people to use as a sounding board in making his decisions regarding parish matters. Parish Councils, Finance Committees and such were still in the future. The Order could have become a glorified Parish Committee, but in the view of the Parish Priest and the Knights, it was thought better to stay in the background and help with the various organisations in the parish, e.g. Home and School Assn, St Vincent de Paul, Works committee, Holy Name Society, Planned Giving Committee, Futuna Retreat etc. etc. On a national level the Knights have been involved in the many studies of Bioethics, the Hospice Movement, the organisation of Papal visits, Eucharistic Congresses and the research carried out to gather legal and medical expertise in the battle against euthanasia.